If I Must Tell the Truth at Work, So Must Trump and His Staff

As a journalist, I have a duty to report the truth and I hold that duty in the highest regard. If I were to write a story that is “Fake News”, I will lose my job and ruin my credibility, causing me to likely never be hired to work in this field again. If this fact rings true for me, then why is it not a given that the President of the United States and his chosen staffers are held to the same standard of truth telling?

Over the last 48 hours, White House staff has come out to present lies to our country and order us as voters to accept them as truth. Ummm… Nah, bruh.

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photo Meet the Press

I will not accept what Sean Spicer said when he addressed the media with a five-minute statement of lies. I will not accept Kellyanne Conway and her bad hair telling me that Spicer simply presented “alternative facts” in place of the truth. I will not accept a President who lies to the American people about something so trivial as the amount of people in attendance at his dinky little inauguration when we all saw it for ourselves. It is as if someone made another comment about his hands and he has to get out the ruler to show us his dick measures up to Obama’s. Sorry not sorry, Trump- but it doesn’t.

Although any estimate given as to the number of attendees at the ceremony would be just that– an estimate. On this one point, Conway was correct. It is not hard, however, to look at a crowd and gauge the number of people there.

I used to host marches and events with the LGBTQ community in Mississippi; at those events, myself or a team member would walk around literally counting the people in attendance. After a few of these events, it became easier for us to estimate the number of attendees and then release that estimate to the public. That is how these things are done.

Now that that part is out of the way, I want to focus on the real issue at hand here, an issue that Chuck Todd tried to address yesterday on Meet the Press, and an issue that most people are seeming to brush away after Conway’s ridiculous behavior and word salad deflected it like a Sith Force Wave. The President of the United States sent out his Press Secretary to address the media, for the first time since taking office, and he ordered him to lie. Why the hell is that okay?

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President Bill Clinton faced an impeachment trial for lying under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Eventually, he was acquitted of all charges and the case went away. If President Clinton could face this type of scrutiny, then why is Sean Spicer not being forced to resign this morning, and why is Trump, the man who told him what to say, not facing impeachment for this?

As an American citizen and voter, I demand of my elected officials traits such as honesty, integrity, and dignity. Spicer lied, showing a lack of honesty, Conway defended that lie showing a lack of integrity, and Trump made the orders for them both showing a lack of dignity.

I am still in awe that this man was ever allowed to be the President of the United States, because, time and time again throughout the campaign season, Mr. Trump conducted himself in a manner which insulted the office, the people, and the nation. It seems to me that in order to allow him to be POTUS, our nation had to lower its standards and forget the history of morals and convictions that I knew the American people to have.

Well, I will not lower my standards for him or anyone else who is charged with leading this nation. I demand an apology from the White House to the nation for the lies and sheer pettiness that occurred this weekend.

In closing, it is my sincere promise to always and only report the facts in my writing for this and any media outlet for which I may work in the future. I will do so without bias, unless in an opinion piece such as this. I will work tirelessly to ensure any and all of my writing is done with that promise at the forefront of all I do. I will do better than the President of the United States.

Jeff White is a News Editor and contributor for The Pacific Tribune. Jeff is a gay man who was born and raised in Mississippi; he has lived all over the country, but will always consider the South to be his home. Mr. White's passion for the truth and empathy for those less fortunate are driving forces in all that he does.